Everton to miss out on Jesse Lingard as West Ham United move edges closer
Everton are set to miss out on free agent Jesse Lingard after he made a breakthrough in contract talks with West Ham, according to 90min.
The Toffees made their interest in the 29-year-old attacking midfielder on July 1st [Liverpool Echo], with Frank Lampard keen to bolster his attacking options and add goals from midfield.
But while a final decision is yet to be made, it seems they’re set to lose out in the race for his signature with the Hammers finally close to agreeing a deal for his return to the London Stadium.
No shock
Lingard is said to have made hefty wage demands and with Everton’s financial position, plus the fact he previously enjoyed a brilliant loan spell in London means it was always unlikely. There was even talk of “ground breaking offers” from the MLS.
At 29 Lingard is hardly the ideal transfer target for the team, who are trying to move away from older players on huge wages which is exactly the box the England international fills.
With interest in Morgan Gibbs-White well documented, it does seem as though Everton are looking to move away from the Lingard deal anyway but their interest was certainly real.
While they’ll be disappointed to lose out on signing a target to a Premier League rival, it’s not the end of the world when you break it down and other targets make more sense.
But the team absolutely needs to be bolstered and the board need to work hard to ensure that the right targets are brought in this summer to give Lampard a chance of avoiding a relegation battle.